Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Friday, August 24, 2007

GUARDIAN BOOK AWARD HIGHLIGHTS GOOD YEAR FOR FIRST TIME AUTHORSTen "ambitious, resonant" titles are named today to fight the first round of the £10,000 Guardian First Book Award, which is dedicated to spotting and advancing new writing talent.Authors on this year's longlist range from Catherine O'Flynn, brought up in her parents' Birmingham sweet shop, to Ethiopian-born Dinaw Mengestu.Themes range from the politically revelatory to the wildly surrealist. The 10 include two of the year's most intriguing titles - St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised By Wolves, and A Guinea Pig's History of Biology.